Date Publication Category Author Illustration
10/30/1988 NEW WOM Y
STINKOUT OF THE PAST: Flaming Ghost is Said to Plunge into Chipola River
MARLENE WOMACK News-Herald Correspondent

(EDITOR'S NOTE: This is the first article in a two-part series on a popular
Jackson County ghost story. Through the years, several different versions
of this legend have been told. Although some of this story is conjecture,
the greater portion is based on historical fact.)

Some say she flees down the red clay road to the old iron bridge; others
claim her flaming figure flashes through the mist-shrouded swamps; and still
others say she descends from the dark night like a fireball to plunge into
the slow-moving Chipola River.

But all agree that what they are seeing are apparitions of a young woman
who burned to death on her wedding night.

Marianna was a wilderness village 150 years ago. The territory had opened
for settlement in 1821. After learning of the rich hammock land from Andrew
Jackson's soldiers who had crossed North Florida in 1818, many families flocked
to the region. Most brought their slaves with them to work the red clay land,
described as excellent for rowing cotton, corn and sugar cane, and to keep
a watchful eye on the many Indians still living in the area.

For several years, ``Mariana,'' spelled then with one ``n,'' vied to become
county seat with Webbville, a community further west. In 1829, after a bitter
battle, Marianna won. By that time talk of statehood and the establishment
of new banks had become the debated issues. Huge plantations were under
cultivation with more adventurers moving into the area each year.

Samuel and Edward Bellamy, two brothers, moved to Jackson County during this
period. Although both men were physicians from North Carolina, they came
to ``Chipola Country'' to seek their wealth as planters. Born in 1810, Samuel
Bellamy soon turned his attention to a site about 10 miles northwest of town
where he acquired several hundred acres and began clearing the land, cultivating
crops and looking for more ways to finance his operation.

Like many of the other well-educated planters in the region, Bellamy concentrated
his efforts toward the establishment of the Union Bank, a planters' institution,
created to meet the demands of the rapidly expanding business interests.

FAITH BONDS

In this bank, planters pledged their slaves and land to the territorial
government with ``faith bonds.'' In turn, they received the bank's ``paper
money,'' which served as currency and allowed planters to lead the opulent
life. Through this system many intended to pyramid their holdings into vast
fortunes.

Bellamy also took a great interest in the creation of statehood, which he
believed would benefit Florida. His business interests brought him to the
home of William Croom, a fellow North Carolinian. On this visit, the lone
bachelor, who was shy around women, met Croom's daughter, Elizabeth. At the
time of their introduction Elizabeth was seated in the garden, embroidering
a fancy handkerchief with ``EJC.'' When Bellamy inquired about what she was
sewing, she replied, ``My initials.''

Bellamy discovered that he and Elizabeth had similar interests and he became
a steady visitor. Elizabeth's initials became an intimate joke between the
pair, with ``Dr. Sam'' often coming up behind the bouncy, cheerful Elizabeth
and whispering ``EJC, EJC,'' in her ear.

One day Bellamy asked Elizabeth to drive out with him to his brother's
plantation. In 1835 Edward built the huge two-story, red-brick home on a
rise of land about a half-mile from the river. The home stood at the end
of a winding road, edged with huge live oaks and Lombardy poplars. It was
constructed with tall white columns, marble mantles and a front double door
that opened into an immense hallway which ran to the rear of the house. This
hall was adorned with cut-glass chandeliers. When the candles were lit in
these chandeliers, they illuminated the area outside the windows in a soft
speckled glow.

From this location off the United States Road, the couple rode horseback
to Sam's nearby land, where he intended to build a similar home. After viewing
the slaves in the fields ``chopping cotton'' to remove the weeds, Sam took
Elizabeth down to the Rock Cave, his favorite place along the river.

MARRIAGE PROPOSAL

By the light of a lighter-knot torch, Bellamy showed Elizabeth the cave's
walls, blackened by the fires of Indians, and the long formations growing
from the ceiling and the floor of the cave. As they headed back to the sunlit
entrance Bellamy paused and asked Elizabeth to become his wife During the
return ride the couple passed by the wooden structure across the river that
became known as Bellamy Bridge. They stopped to admire the yellow spring
flowers, and Sam kidded Elizabeth about needing to embroider new handkerchiefs.
Once they were married, she'd be ``EJB,'' instead of ``EJC.'' Elizabeth smiled
and laughed, content in these surroundings. Grabbing her hand, Bellamy said
``you're good for me, Elizabeth, you lift my dark moods.''

With theatrical groups, traveling circuses and phrenologists making their
appearances in Marianna at that time, Bellamy decided to give his future
wife the advantages of both city and country life. He began construction
of a two-story Marianna ``town house,'' which when completed would be adorned
with stately white columns and broad steps running the full length of the
veranda. He also placed an order for expensive furnishings from Europe.

Weeks of preparation went into the wedding that was to take place in the
new town house. Seamstresses fashioned Elizabeth's wedding gown from white
imported fabric, then embroidered the dress with hundreds of tiny white roses.
Atop her delicate long veil they attached the diamond tiara that belonged
to Elizabeth's mother. At the final fitting Elizabeth also tried on her new
satin gloves that extended to her elbows.

Guests began arriving in Marianna the week before the wedding. Some remained
in town; others journeyed out to Bellamy Plantation, where Edward and his
wife, Ann, warmly welcomed the people to their home Their parlor held many
of the gifts for the bride and groom. Included in these gifts were Staffordshire
pottery, silver candle holders, diamond bracelets and pins, a pearl necklace,
crystal lamps and Grecian Temple Transfer Ware.

`ALWAYS'

The morning before the wedding Sam and Elizabeth rode out to the plantation
to see their gifts. After visiting with the guests, they mounted horses and
slowly guided them down to the river. In the quiet woodland setting, festooned
with Spanish moss and blossoming magnolias near the bridge, Sam presented
Elizabeth with his wedding gift. After she examined the large diamond-studded
cross with ``EJB'' engraved on the back, she held it to her breast and murmered
``always.''

The wedding took place in the rose garden, behind the new town house the
afternoon of May 11, 1837. Elizabeth's 10 attendants wore hooded gowns of
pink and white pineapple silk. After the vows were recited, the guests dined
on hams, beef, fried chicken and wedding cake, plus bottles of expensive
Madeira and imported champagne.

In the early evening hours after the candles and lamps were lit, most of
the people moved into ``the big room,'' where all furniture had been removed
and straight-back chairs lined the walls. It was after Elizabeth had removed
her long wedding veil that the tragedy took place. Sam and Elizabeth were
whirling around on the dance floor, caught up in the music of a beautiful
waltz, when the back of Elizabeth's gossamer-like gown brushed too close
to one of the candelabras and caught fire.

Elizabeth screamed, but Sam and the other guests stood motionless for a second,
not realizing what had happened. The panic-striken bride dashed outside as
the flames leaped up her back toward her long black hair Edward quickly leaped
from his chair along the wall where he had been chatting with friends. Together
both he and Sam snatched the red oriental rug from the polished oak floor
and raced after Elizabeth. As soon as they reached her they threw her on
the ground and smothered the flames. After Sam carried Elizabeth upstairs
to the bed chamber where they were to spend their wedding night, he snatched
scissors and began cutting away the burnt section of her wedding gown. At
first both Edward and Sam cared for Elizabeth, rubbing the burns on her writhing
body with fresh lard. Sam alternated between acting the calm professional
to shouting like a madman, and crying, ``How could this happen to my beautiful
wife?'' When he realized it was only a matter of time, Edward administered
morphine. Then Sam ordered his brother from the room so Elizabeth could die
alone in his arms.

The next morning they transported Elizabeth's charred remains to Bellamy
Plantation. In the great hallway family and friends streamed by the cypress
casket covered with the long white bridal veil. Elizabeth carried her diamond
cross, wedding ring and the pearls from her father with her to her grave.

They buried Elizabeth down from the house in a grove of live oaks at the
family burial place, as the golden sun descended in the apricot sky and
whippoorwills began their mournful cries.

(EDITOR'S NOTE: This article concludes a two-part series on a popular Jackson
County ghost story. Through the years several different versions of this
legend have been told. Although some of this story is conjecture, the greater
portion is based on historical fact.)

Samuel C. Bellamy mourned several months after his bride's tragic death.
In a depressed and bitter state, he bordered on ``madness,'' but erected
a tombstone for his beloved bride that read: ``Sacred to the memory of Elizabeth
Jane, late wife of Samuel C. Bellamy and daughter of Gen. William Croom of
North Carolina, who departed this life at her residence, Florida, May 11,
1837, aged 18 years, 2 months.' That same year Bellamy became a Union Bank
appraiser, according to J.H. Shofner's Jackson County, Florida.

In this position, Bellamy reappraised already mortgaged property at higher
values that became the basis for new loans. On Feb. 10, 1838, the Union Bank
allotted him 148 shares worth $14,800 to build his home and secure additional
property.

Later that year Jackson Countians selected Samuel C. Bellamy as one of their
four delegates to the Constitutional Convention at the boomtown of St. Joseph,
territorial Florida's largest city A staunch believer in statehood by this
time, Bellamy journeyed to St. Joseph with the other delegates from his area.
On the second day of the convention, Dec. 4, 1838, when districts could not
reach an agreement as to the manner in which they would represent their absent
members, Bellamy admonished the group.

He stated that ``many of us ... who are here, are not politicians by profession;
we do not look to politics as an object from whence to derive support for
our families, we take no delight in party strife or political turmoil --
but have come here with another view, and are influenced by no other motives,
than to discharge honestly the trust committed to us by our constituents,
and to lay the foundation of the government, which we humbly hope is to advance
the future prosperity and happiness of the good people of Florida.''

During the convention Bellamy served on the banking committee. In Marianna,
Bellamy's house stood empty. Bellamy refused to live in the home, where traces
of the fire which killed his wife could still be seen, nor would he allow
any changes to be made.

According to J.R. Stanley's History of Jackson County, he eventually sold
the home to C.C. Yonge, a U.S. district attorney in the 1850s. After the
Civil War, William Nickels, keeper of Marianna's hotel and livery stable,
purchased the home for $1,200. It became known as the old Nickels home and
stood in the downtown area for many years, surrounded by Green, Clinton,
Jefferson and Market streets. Several years ago the old home was torn down
and replaced by county government buildings.

In 1840, the Florida territory began experiencing the rippling effects of
the financial panic of 1837 that resulted in depressed conditions in the
United States.

BUBBLE BURSTS

The following year the Union Bank was faced with default due to falling cotton
prices, yellow fever and hurricanes. A congressional investigation in 1842
found the bank guilty of ``extravagance and overtrading.'' In 1843 the bubble
burst and the Union Bank closed its doors. The bank's crash resulted in several
court actions over the next few years. In the liquidation, the Union Bank
brought suit against Samuel C. Bellamy for $27,710 on his unpaid mortgages.
Although Bellamy was involved in this litigation, he did receive $1,000 to
construct a new wooden bridge across the Chipola River in 1844, where baptisms
were often held. He also served as a justice of the peace in Jackson County.

The Second Seminole War also took place during this period. With Jackson
County at the edge of the frontier, several Indian massacres occurred. It
is possible that renegade Indians robbed Elizabeth's grave during one of
these uprisings. Her grave and many others were plundered extensively by
grave robbers in later years.

FAMILY FEUD

In 1848, a bitter feud erupted between Samuel and Edward Bellamy. No one
knows for certain what caused the disagreement. Edward did obtain control
of his brother's ``Rock Cave Plantation'' at that time. Perhaps he purchased
the property to keep it in the family or to hold it until Samuel's mental
state improved; or he may have had less honorable reasons for obtaining the
plantation.

Samuel Bellamy was outraged at the loss of his holdings. He caused a scandal
by advertising in the Florida Whig about the wrongdoing committed by his
brother. Bellamy reported that ``he had now no other means of making his
living and therefore solicited the patronage of his neighbors'' by offering
his professional medical services.

As a result of Samuel's defamation of Edward's character, the feud between
the two worsened. This strife may have resulted in Edward's refusal to allow
Samuel access to any of his property, including the family graveyard.

Samuel Bellamy next turned his attention to temperance and public schools.
In a speech to the Chipola Division of the Sons of Temperance in 1849 Bellamy
charged ``but miserable, miserable indeed, must be the condition of the man
who first flies to intoxication as a remedy for the corroding cares of the
world.''

According to records kept at the Constitutional Convention State Museum in
Port St. Joe, Bellamy described this temptation in Marianna on July 4, 1849,
saying: ``The cup is offered; he seizes it with the avidity a drowning man
would catch at a straw, and buries alike his sorrows and his senses in
oblivion.''

Apparently he spoke from his own experiences with alcohol and a depressed
mental state. At that time Bellamy already had been a heavy drinker for many
years, yet he was elected clerk of the Circuit Court of Jackson County.

As a proponent of public education, he stated in an address: ``Let the blessings
of a good education be brought within the reach of the poorest child in your
land.'' He then personally financed a school in Jackson County. And during
another inspirational speech he reiterated his faith in the state's future,
concluding it, ``Who does not wish that his children and his children's children
... with pride and exultation, may exclaim `This is my own, my native land
...'' The 1850 census shows 40-year-old Samuel Bellamy staying at the home
of James Baker, his wife, Sarah, and their six children.

The enumeration also lists Edward Bellamy, 49, his wife, Ann, and their seven
children. These records reveal a close bond between the two families with
the fact that a 12--year--old son is named ``Croom,'' and a 7-year-old daughter
bears the name ``Elizabeth.''

WHAT MIGHT HAVE BEEN

In his later years Bellamy often rode out to his brother's plantation. From
the dirt road he would gaze at Edward's many children, riding ponies or chasing
wooden hoops across the front lawn, and dream of what might have been.

Then after dark in the light of a full moon he would stare gloomily across
the field at the graveyard where his beloved Elizabeth lay sleeping. The
ghost story may have originated at this time, or in the late 1800s when the
Bellamy mansion burned.

Bellamy never remarried, nor did he ever have any children. He did become
deputy clerk of the Supreme Court of Florida in 1852.

Then in 1853 Bellamy revised his will. He instructed his executor ``to prosecute
to the limit of the law against Edward C. Bellamy, until he shall be compelled
to account for and pay over the last cent he has had of mine.'' Eighty-one
slaves valued at $47,900 and several hundred acres of land were involved
in this suit. Years later the court decided in Samuel Bellamy's favor, but
little remained after the Union Bank's claims against the estate were paid.

In December 1853, the local newspaper reported that Samuel Bellamy had been
``exceedingly intemperate for years past, and was most probably laboring
under delirium tremens.''

According to the Tallahassee Floridian and Journal, three days after Christmas,
on Dec. 28, 1853, Samuel C. Bellamy committed suicide by lifting a razor
and slitting his throat.

LONE REMINDER

Today, Elizabeth Jane Bellamy's tombstone is the only reminder of the tragedy
that took place many years ago. It stands about a half-mile from the river
in an overgrown field, near a few crumbling bricks and an old cistern, used
to cool food and drinks during plantation days.

Around Halloween groups gather in the haunted area down by the river, hoping
to catch a glimpse of the ghostly silhouette. On the anniversary of the tragedy
each May, several Chipola College students keep a midnight vigil. Some claim
to have taken photographs of the ghost that reveal a strange white blur.

When Elizabeth's ghost appears, questions arise. Does she return to douse
her burning body in the river? Is she looking for her stolen jewels? Or does
she wander the swamps trying to find and protect her beloved husband?